Kate Chopin is a famous regionalist author who is known for her feminist works set in Louisiana. Chopin typically writes about gender in different cultural and social settings (Miller). Her work “Désirée’s Baby” is about race and ethnicity during the Antebellum period in Louisiana (Miller). During the Antebellum period class and racial prejudice were at a high, and if you were apart of the upper white class, you had a lot of power. Kate Chopin shows the true colors of the character Armand Aubigny in “Désirée’s Baby” through raping his slaves and his mistreatment towards his wife and the mother of his child, Désirée. Chopin focuses more on the mistreatment of Désirée; this is not shocking as Kate Chopin is known for her writings about women.
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La Blanche is one of Armand’s slaves, and it is inferred that Armand was having a sexual relationship with her. When Désirée was talking to her mother about how her baby cries very loudly, she stated that “Armand [could hear the baby] the other day as far away as La Blanche’s cabin” (Chopin). Why was Armand in La Blanche’s cabin? During the Antebellum period, it was very common for the slave owner to go to a women’s slaves cabin and assault her (Sonnen). Armand used La Blanche to fulfill his desires without anybody knowing. It was not specified in the story whether or not Désirée knew that Armand was having sexual relations with La Blanche. If the wife came to know that their husbands were having an affair with one of the slaves, then they would lock the slave up and have them physically abused every day, “the [wife] was able to take out her aggressions on the girl rather than the guilty master” (Sonnen). It seemed easier for the wife to beat the slave than to confront her cheating husband about his …show more content…
Women had a status barley higher than property, meaning they could not do a lot without the consent of their husband or their father. White women always married white men. It would look bad if a woman and a man of a different race were together. If a white woman were to have a relationship with somebody of a different race there would be massive consequences, while if a white man were to have a relationship with somebody of a different race the man would suffer no consequences, and the matter would be brushed off. Sometimes the man can take the secret of being in an inter-race relationship to the
La Blanche is one of Armand’s slaves, and it is inferred that Armand was having a sexual relationship with her. When Désirée was talking to her mother about how her baby cries very loudly, she stated that “Armand [could hear the baby] the other day as far away as La Blanche’s cabin” (Chopin). Why was Armand in La Blanche’s cabin? During the Antebellum period, it was very common for the slave owner to go to a women’s slaves cabin and assault her (Sonnen). Armand used La Blanche to fulfill his desires without anybody knowing. It was not specified in the story whether or not Désirée knew that Armand was having sexual relations with La Blanche. If the wife came to know that their husbands were having an affair with one of the slaves, then they would lock the slave up and have them physically abused every day, “the [wife] was able to take out her aggressions on the girl rather than the guilty master” (Sonnen). It seemed easier for the wife to beat the slave than to confront her cheating husband about his …show more content…
Women had a status barley higher than property, meaning they could not do a lot without the consent of their husband or their father. White women always married white men. It would look bad if a woman and a man of a different race were together. If a white woman were to have a relationship with somebody of a different race there would be massive consequences, while if a white man were to have a relationship with somebody of a different race the man would suffer no consequences, and the matter would be brushed off. Sometimes the man can take the secret of being in an inter-race relationship to the